....just got back from the show.
It sure was nice to cruise the show in comfort w/o the crowds.

...short takes
- G37 vert; officially a chick car
- G37x coupe; should be a good world market car for them
- the exotics.... amazing as usual; but Aston Martin DBS & Ferrari Fiorano in particular were spectacular.
- Near exotic, Audi R8 looked amazing in red & like schit in metalic blue.
If they would do something with that idiotic blade on the side, it wold be on my 'fantasy' short list for sure.
- The new Z4 is officially a weeny chick car.
- IS-F there was a fantastic looking blue car & a "what were they thinking" red that was almost maroon looking.
- GT-R ..in the minority on this one I'm sure, but just doesn't turn my crank in person.
- The 370Z.... looks fantastic, 10x better in person than in pics.
There were 2 cars there, a yellow & a red. It looked great in both colours.
Definitely entrenched on my future 'real life' short list.
A test drive is definitely warranted.
- Porsche Canada wasn't there, but Pfaff Tuning had a nice display.
...not a fan of the Cayman, but they had a had a gorgeous 911 Turbo
...unfortunately, no GT2 though

 

thanks for the update Ian. Sounds like good timing to breeze through and catch what you wanted. My replies are in red along with a few new smilies.

 

I was surprised at the Z4 in person.
Not nearly as aggressive as some the early pics.

Not to take away from how this car is put together. (very cohesive style)
But, it is very obvious that the SLK is the bull's eye on their target.
To me, it's more of a luxo vert now instead of a sports car.
I was definitely disappointed in this car.
I guess a woman was design lead for a reason.

 

My sister's hubby is a big (idiot) wig at a quebec bimmer stealership, so he brings them by trying to preach the beauty of the bimmer. When he brought a Z4 back I laughed at him and told him it was slow and looked like it was for grandma. I drove it, and almost threw my arm out! what is with that long EFFIN shift?! So I completely bypassed the Z4 ever since then. If I HAD to buy a bimmer I'd get the M6 or M5 in that order

 

the ///M was a completely different beast

 

All in all, InTgr8r, was the auto-show worth the time/money? I'm debating whether or not to go.

 

IMO Last years was better...

 

I went mainly to see the 370Z & new Z4.
Day off work & free ticket = Definitely worth it

...other wise, it was definitely not as good as other years but still a good day to kick tires & drool over the exotics.

 

^Wow, you didn't like the GTR...that was my highlight of the show. I know what you mean on the Z4, not too crazy on that.

Tell me you saw the Kia concept, I wouldn't rock a Kia in particular, but if they start making them like that, the Koreans are gonna take over, good luck american cars.

 

Interesting point on the female designer. I'm sure you're spot on with this.

I'm curious to see a 370 now.

 

I'm very afraid to test drive one.

 

I'm definitely in the minority here, but hard angular lined cars never really appealed to me.
e.g.
Raging Bull vs Prancing horse.
Not a Lambo fan & love the Ferrari.

The latest GM design on Caddy GTS et al, are

GT-R Engineering & Mechanically.... different story

 

LOL,

LOL. I hear ya. Seems like decent value for the car too.

I'm afraid to see one.

 

I hear ya, that's why you got a G, smooth and curvacious

I'm not swung either way, hard lines or smooth, I'm just a fan of unique styling/engineering. On that point, that's why I never really aspired for BMW's or porsche's, I find they all kind of look the same (just my opinion), from 10-15 years ago to today. I guess it's a good car if you want to buy an older one, it will look new forever. They never seem to change it enough for me to say, wow! same grill and similar tail/headlight configurations for generations.

As for the GTR, it's more of a teenage dream car for me (the older model skyline GTR), and this new one is just rekindling that dream.....ah well....one day...

 

Just got home from the show. The show itself was alright, but what really made my day was that I got to test drive the B-class, C, E, GLK, and Smart cars by Mercedes Benz. My buddy and I were walking around the Mercedes Benz area and a random lady approached us with the offer to test drive their cars. She took us to a booth and we signed papers and bam..they shuttled us in an R-Class to the Ontario Place where they had an array of five vehicles to test drive around a mini circuit. Best thing was that you could stay for however long you wanted too. That sure was fun! I took a few pics. throughout the show; I'll upload them later on tonight.

Regarding the test drives..here's my input on the cars:

B-class (B200 Turbo):
Was surprisingly one of the best out of the five to drive! I was amazed. It handled quite well, brakes were pretty good, wish it had a little more power, but overall very impressed. Interior was ok; the large sunroof was nice.

Smart for-two:
Was a let down. I thought it would be fun to drive those little buggers, but I honestly didn't like it one bit. The paddle shifters were flimsy, gear changes sucked, and brakes were like butter.

GLK (300/350- can't remember):
Exterior looked kinda weird, IMO. But, it started to grow on me, especially after the test drive. It handled quite well, good brakes, good pick up speed, welcoming interior, etc. Not too shabby! Was probably the best one out of the five to drive.

C-class (C300 4-matic):
I had high hopes for this car, but it didn't seem to impress me all that much. Interior was ok, seats were nice, good power, but what really killed it were the extremely touchy brakes. They sure were annoying.

E-class (E300 4-matic):
Nothing special really. Average.

In conclusion, the GLK and the B-class were the two which I was pretty much poking fun at when we got there, but after the test drive it's surprising to say that they were the best ones.